Faculty Snapshot: Rebecca Kobrin

Tell us a bit about your work.
I just finished a book that conjures up the lost world of immigrant banking.  Bringing together Jewish, business and immigration history, my book A Credit to the Nation: East European Jewish Immigrant Bankers and American Finance, uncovers how early 20th century immigrant businesses not only provided financial services to the foreign-born, but also helped them buy ship tickets, transmit money overseas, and invest in real estate, forever transforming American commercial banking. Next semester, I cannot wait to teach a new seminar in which we dive into Columbia’s archives to consider ‘Jews, Religion, and the Writing of American History.’

What are you looking forward to right now? What are you most excited about?
I am most excited about the new project I have started on the long history of Columbia and its Jewish students.  It began when I started working with several students to document all that has unfolded on campus in the last 20 months. Then I turned to the archives. I find new treasures daily in the archives as I think about how the present relates to the past and how our present moment will be narrated. My student research assistants astound me, as they see things both on campus and in the archives in fresh ways, teasing information from unconventional materials and letting the silences in the archives speak for themselves.

What is a self-care practice that works for you?
I try to make sure to go to Riverside Park daily, for a bike ride or walk, or most recently, to learn to play tennis. I bake daily and love to share my creations with family, friends, and even my students.  Spending time with my kids and hiking outdoors with them has always been replenishing. In the summer, I try to find a place where I can see the ocean, breathe in ocean air, and feel the sand under my feet.

To learn more about Dr. Kobrin's work, please visit her departmental website.